PIB Press Releases


		9th April, 2003


		Ministry of Commerce & Industry Facilitation measures to help exporters to Iraq The Office of the Iraq Programme (OIP) of the United Nations has, in a note to the Permanent Mission of India (PMI) on 3rd April 2003, issued certain additional information for the suppliers of goods under the 'Oil for Food' programme (OFP).......................... Ministry of Railways Economising operating expenses on Railways The Ministry of Railways is contemplating to form a joint venture company with National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) for setting up of 1000 Mega Watt (MW) captive Thermal Power Plant at Nabinagar .......................... Ministry of Railways Improving freight wagons Indian Railways have introduced 100 kilometre per hour high speed wagon to bridge the gap between speeds of Mail/Express and freight trains.......................... Ministry of Science & Technology INSAT-3A launch put off due to snag The launch of INSAT-3A scheduled at about 05.00 Hrs. this morning from Kourou in French Guyana by Ariane-5 rocket, was put off due to a snag in telemetry transmitter.......................... Ministry of Commerce & Industry Exporters urged to adopt E-commerce to maximise trade gains Emphasising the need for creating an enabling environment for large-scale adoption of E-commerce by Indian companies for enhancing export competitiveness through supply chain efficiencies.......................... Ministry of Human Resource Development MoU signed for Indo-French Cyber University A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), for establishing an "Indo-French Cyber University", was signed between the Ministry of Human Resource Development (HRD), Government of India and the French Ministry for Youth, National Education and for Research, here, last evening.......................... Ministry of Coal Coal reserves in the country The State-wise details of coal reserves as assessed by Geological Survey of India (GSI) as on 1.1.2003 are as under:......................... Ministry of Information & Broadcasting Proper blend of creativity and censorship required: Shri Prasad The Minister of Information and Broadcasting, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad has emphasized that a proper blend of creativity and censorship of films has to be achieved.......................... Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation Measuring per-capita income of States The methodology adopted by the States for compiling the estimates of State Domestic Product, which forms the basis of computation of per capita average income of a State/UT, is based on the recommendations of the Regional Accounts Committee constituted for the purpose.......................... Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation Unutilised MPLADS funds According to the information available on March 31, 2003, the unspent balance of MPLADS funds with District Heads was Rs. 2225.10 crore.......................... Ministry of Law & Justice Police needs image correction - Shri Jaitley The Minister of Law and Justice, Shri Arun Jaitley, has said that the police must make an earnest attempt for image correction by gaining confidence of the people and trying to become people friendly.......................... Ministry of Mines New aluminium plants Orissa, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra have large bauxite reserves.......................... Ministry of Mines MECL's exploration in 2002-03 During the financial year 2002-03, Mineral Exploration Corporation Ltd. (MECL), a public sector unit of the Mines Ministry took up coal exploration in the states of Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Assam.......................... Ministry of Steel 2002-03 VSP's turnaround year Visakhapatanam Steel Plant (VSP) of Rashtriya Ispat Nigam Limited, a public sector undertaking of the Ministry of Steel has posted the best turnover of Rs. 5059 crore during 2002-03, an improvement of 24 per cent over the total sales of the last year.......................... Ministry of Finance & Company Affairs President inaugurates Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Finance Commission The President of India, Shri A.P.J. Abdul Kalam today outlined a vision of connectivity and transparency in governance and administration to bring about the development of the nation.......................... Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports World Conference on Anti-Doping A World Conference on Anti-Doping in sports organised by the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA), was held from 3rd to 5th March, 2003 in Copenhagen.......................... Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports 229 international athletes produced by Sports Authority of India The Sports Authority of India has produced 229 Olympics/international athletes since the inception of its schemes by implementing various sports promotional programmes.......................... Ministry of Water Resources CWC observes national level Water Resources Day -2003 To focus attention on various issues relating to water resources development and create public awareness, observance of Water Resources Day every year was started in India in 1987.......................... Ministry of Power Electrification of villages in Tenth Five Year Plan Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a total grant of 563.87 crore for the Tenth Plan as interest subsidy on loans for rural electrification of unelectrified villages under Accelerated Rural Electrification Programme.......................... Ministry of Power Power production in Uttaranchal The electricity generation in Uttaranchal during the month of March, 2003 and in the year 2002-03 was 239 MUs and 3758 MUs respectively (including generation in Central Sector)........................... Ministry of Power Maharashtra Power Projects for NTPC As a part of its long term planning exercise, National Thermal power Corporation has examined sites near Mauda in Nagpur district of Maharashtra for a 1000 MW power project based on water from Ghosikhurd Irrigation project presently under construction.......................... Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources Use of solar energy for cooking mid-day meals in schools The Ministry of Non-Conventional Energy Sources received a proposal during 2002-03 from the Rajasthan Renewable Energy Corporation for the installation of solar concentrating cooking systems in two schools, one in Jodhpur district and the other in Sriganganagar district.......................... Ministry of Non-conventional Energy Sources Power from solar energy in Gujarat The Government is implementing the Solar Photovoltaic (SPV) Programme for generating electricity from solar energy for lighting, pumping and other applications, in all states including Gujarat.......................... Ministry of Communications & Information Technology Government approves 211 proposals for FDI in Telecom Sector The Government has approved about 211 proposals for about Rs.17,500 crores for Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in telecom sector during the period 2000 to 2002......................... Ministry of Communications & Information Technology Issuance of fresh licences to private operators Fresh tenders for grant of 14 licences for Cellular Mobile Telephone Service (CMTS) to fill up vacant slots in eight Telecom Circles were invited on 10th February, 2003......................... Ministry of Communications & Information Technology Submarine Cable Landing Station Government has decided to permit setting up of International Gateways in security sensitive areas including Submarine Cable Landing Stations. This includes the coastal areas of Gujarat also......................... Ministry of Environment & Forests Green Technology Bazaar to be organised in New Delhi A 'Technology Bazaar' an exposition of environment friendly technologies will be organised in New Delhi in November this year to facilitate technology dissemination, transfer and cooperation..........................